In 1960, at age 58, John Steinbeck set out with his French poodle, Charley, to rediscover the country he had been writing about for so many years. Together they crossed America from the northernmost tip of Maine to California's Monterey peninsula, stopping to smell the grass, to see the lights, and to hear the speech of the real America. Steinbeck dined with truckers, encountered bears at Yellowstone, and reflected on the American character, racial hostility, and the unexpected kindness of strangers.

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About the Author

John Steinbeck (1902–1968) remains one of the quintessential writers of American literature. Born in Salinas, California, Steinbeck attended Stanford University before working at a series of mostly blue-collar jobs and embarking on his literary career. Profoundly committed to social progress, he used his writing to raise issues of labor exploitation and the plight of the common man, penning some of the greatest American novels of the twentieth century and winning such prestigious awards as the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. He received the Nobel Prize in 1962, “for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception.” He wrote more than twenty-five novels during his lifetime.

About the Narrator

Gary Sinise, born in Blue Island, Illinois, helped launch the Steppenwolf Theater Company at age eighteen. He started his Hollywood career as a director, but his 1994 appearance in Forrest Gump as Lieutenant Dan launched him to fame and earned him an Academy Award nomination. He worked with Tom Hanks again in Apollo 13 and has since appeared in more than thirty other films and television shows.

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